Floor covering



Patented Oct. 6, 1942 IUNITED STATES PTNT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a floor covering, which may preferably be in the form of rug pad for disposition beneath a rug, carpet, or the equivalent, and which is especially adapted to accommodate electrically conductive means in a substantially unnoticeable manner, although the invention may have other uses and purposes as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

In the past, many and various types of pads for underlying floor coverings, desk coverings, or coverings for other substantially fiat surfaces have been developed, but insofar as We are aware, none of these items were capable of effectively concealing from both sight and feel the fact that electrical conductors or the like traversed the same general surface upon which the covering member was disposed. Usually, changes were made in the shape and styling of the electrical conductive means in an attempt to conceal its disposition, but the covering members were left as before, with the result that the electrically conductive means were not as effectively concealed as desired and frequently resulted in undue and objectionable wear to the covering members.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a covering member for a flat surface, such as a floor for example, which covering member may be in the form of a pad for disposition beneath-the visible covering member, or it may be in the nature of the visible covering member itself, which is especially constructed to accommodate electrical conductive means in substantially any desired location and effectively concealing such conductive means both from the sense of sight and the sense of feel.

Still another feature of the invention resides in a covering member of the character set forth herein, which is especially designed to accommodate electrical conductive means of a standard or well known type, without any resultant additional wear on the cover member, and with ef- "fective concealment of the electrical conductive means.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a floor covering designed to accommodate Vand conceal electrical conductive means, and

Another object of the .invention resides in the 5s provision of a resilient rug pad having crisscross open grooves in one side face thereof, the grooves being of such size as to accommodate electrical conductive means, and of such depth as to leave an ample portion of the resilient pad over the bottom of the grooves.

Still another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a rug pad, preferably of resilient material, having crisscross grooves in one side face thereof, with curvate grooved portions establishing interconnection between grooves traveling in one direction and grooves extending in another direction, so that electrically conductive means disposed in the grooves may be altered in direction through one of the curvate portions in an easy and facile manner without any sharp bends resulting in the electrically conductive means.

Still another object of this invention resides in the provision of a rug pad made o-f rubber or equivalent material in which crisscrossing open grooves are molded in one side face of the pad for the accommodation of electrical conductive means.

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been above pointed out, others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a fragmentary projectional view illustrating a floor covering embodying principles of the present invention in operative position;

Figure 2 is a reduced bottom plan view of the floor covering of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary greatly enlarged sectional view taken substantially as indicated by the line III-III of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 4 is a still greater enlarged sectional view taken substantially as indicated by the line IV-IV of Fig. 2.

As shown on the drawing:

To illustrate a use of the present invention, the illustrated embodiment of the invention is shown in conjunction with a iioor 5 around which a wall 6 extends. A wall socket l of common forni is shown in the wall 6, from which electrically conductive means i3 in the form of the `usual insulated pair of wires extends to a current consuming appliance, such as a floor lamp 9. With reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the wall socket l, as frequently is the case, is on the side of the room farthest from the desired location of the lamp 9. However, it will be seen that the conductor 3, except for a short length adjacent the wall socket, and another short length adjacent the lamp 9, is very eiectively concealed by a floor covering embodying principles of the present invention.

The illustrated embodiment of this invention includes a rug pad I!) which in this instance is shown beneath a rug II in position to enhance the resiliency of the rug and prolong its life. The pad II) may be made oi? any desirable or suitable material, a very satisfactory material being rubber of a somewhat spongy consistency which not only provides the desired resiliency, but also acts as an electrical insulator.

Open grooves in crisscross arrangement are provided in the underside of the pad IIJ. These grooves may be molded in the pad at the time of the making of it, in the event it is made of rubber or equivalent material, or they may be cut in in the event the pad is made of some other substance. In the illustrated instance, grooves I2 and I3, spaced equidistantly apart, are shown running longitudinally of the pad, while similar grooves Il, I5 and It are shown running transversely of the pad. Clean unobstructed intersections such as that indicated at Il between the transverse grooves I6 and the longitudinal groove I 3 are provided at each crossing point of the respective grooves, so that a conductor may ccntinue in either groove right past any intersection.

Adjacent each intersection Il, of which six are illustrated, a set of curvato groove portions are provided, with a curvate groove on each side of the intersection. For example, in the upper left hand intersection of Fig. 2, four ourvate portions IS, I9, 25 and 2I establish intercommunication between the grooves I3 and It around the intersection point. The curvate part i3 establishes arcuate communication between the grooves I3 and l5, the curvate groove portion I9 communicates between the transverse groove I4 and the longitudinal groove I3 on the other side of the intersection. Likewise, on the other side of the longitudinal groove I3 curvate portions 26 and 2I establish arcuate communication with the groove il. With this arrangement, in the event it is desired to change the direction or a conductor, that is permit the conductor to follow the course of one of the main grooves a certain distance and then change directions, it is a simple expedient to lay the conductor in one of the curvate portions I8, IS, 2D or 2l and thus avoid any danger of breakage of the Wires in the conductor or injury to the conductor through too sharp a bend.

With the pad I@ sitting in proper position on a oor or other iiat surface to be covered, the grooves opening downwardly against the floor, the conductor 8 may be placed beneath the pad in substantially any desired direction, and with maximum concealment of the conductor. Each conductor thus placed beneath the pad occupies one or more of the grooves in the pad as illustrated in Fig. 4 and thus is eectively concealed Without creating any unevenness whatsoever in the floor covering. There is sufticient cushionin material above each groove, that is the depth of the groove is preferably such as to leave an ample amount of cushioning material or pad i 8 enters the groove I4, follows the groove I4 to the curvate portion 20, occupies the curvate portion to change direction and follows groove I3 to the curvate portion I8 interconnecting grooves I3 and I5, and then follows the remainder of the transverse groove I6 to the edge of the floor covering where it communicates with the lamp 9. It will be appreciated that there are no sharp bends in the conductive means 8 although two separate and complete changes in direction are made during the course of travel of the conductor. It will further be appreciated that any other conductor or the same conductor may be run from another point beneath the floor covering and exit at a desired point to afford the maximum concealment of the conductor.

If so desired, an auxiliary pad member 22, seen in Figs. 3 and 4, may be placed beneath the pad IB so that the conductor rests upon the auxiliary member 22 while occupying the space provided by the respective grooves in the main pad member It. In this manner the various electrical conductors may be kept from direct contact with the oor in the event re regulations might so require.

It will also be appreciated that the pad portion Iii may be formed integrally with the rug II, or if the pad iii is given a finished surface it might function as the sole iloor covering, and may be in the nature of a linoleum or plastic rug. However, when the pad IQ is made of rubber or e'quivalent material an additional feature becomes apparent. With the grooves crisscrossing the pad as above explained, a gripping non-skid effect on the pad is also obtained, which is materially enhanced by the provision of the curvate groove portions I8, I9, 2% and 2| so that there is little or no possibility of the pad shifting position while in use since any tendency of such movement is effectively resisted by the various grooves.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that we have provided a novel oor covering, a preferable form of which may be in the nature of a rug pad for disposition beneath the decorative floor covering, the pad being arranged to eiectively accommodate and conceal both from sight and feel electrical conductive means, and also to prevent skidding of the pad on the oor or other ilat surface which it may be used to cover. It will be noted that the pad is simple in construction, extremely durable, and economical to manufacture and use, it being a simple expedient to place any electrical conductive means in the accommodation recesses found in the pad for that purpose.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

l. A resilient rug pad of insulating material having grooves extending longitudinally and transversely of the pad, said grooves being of a size to accommodate electrical conductive means, said grooves extending inwardly from the undersurface only7 of said pad with the transversely extending grooves intersecting the longitudinally extending grooves substantially at right angles, and said pad having curvate groove portions adjacent each intersection on all sides of the intersection, each curvate groove portion establishing communication between a portion of a transverse groove and a portion of a longitudinal groove to permit a smooth variation in direction of the electrical conductive means.

2. As an article of manufacture, a resilient rug pad having the underside thereof provided with grooves for accommodating a conductor, said grooves having open ends terminating at edges of said pad, being congurated to change direction across the surface of the pad and having curvate sections providing the change in direction to permit a smooth variation in direction of the conductor.

JAMES J. OBRIEN JAMES STRAD. 

